GP 114 Grötlingbo Roes II

Context and Discovery
The fragmented picture stone was “[…] found about 1912 by Mr. Conr. Johanson, Roes, in Roshagen, which borders on Barshalder and covers a part of the same grave field that is known under the last-mentioned name. Numerous stone settings were found around the place where the stone was discovered just beneath the surface, with the head pointing south. Next to the stone were burnt human bones. Several metres to the south, [Fredrik Nordin] in 1918 observed a small burial cist made of sandstone, one long edge of which was visible aboveground. Directly south of the stone’s find place is the mound ‘Gullbacken’” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 51; see ATA dnr 1228/1918). Consequently, like the stones GP 124–126 Grötlingbo Roes III–V, the slab originates from the most northerly part of the well-known large Late Iron Age necropolis of Barshalder (Rundkvist 2003).
GP 124 Grötlingbo Roes III
GP 125 Grötlingbo Roes IV
GP 126 Grötlingbo Roes V

Measurements, Material and Condition
The monument is broken into numerous fragments, which are only partially preserved. According to Olof Sörling’s drawing, which is the only picture of the stone provided in Lindqvist’s book, there must have been 6 to 9 pieces (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, fig. 362), only two of which can be located in SHM. The following comments are about one piece that preserves part of the slightly concave lateral edge and another piece that preserves part of the slightly convex upper edge. “Limestone slab, 14 cm thick. The obverse is coarse, obviously due to severe weathering. […] The narrow sides are hewn flat at right angles towards the obverse for up to 10 cm width; whether there was a chamfer in between, is unclear. The reverse is rough. The width between the upper corners is now 100 cm.” The original total height of the stone cannot be determined, due to its fragmentary condition, although it can be estimated to have been at least 140 cm.

Description of Ornament and Images
Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 52) described the carvings as follows: “Of the decoration only faint traces remain that show a border of about 10 cm width and in the centre, a roundel with crescent-shaped segments and a diameter of almost 55 cm. One gets the impression that the roundel once had a corona of the usual shape, even though this is not indicated in the drawing by [Olof Sörling]. Possibly, there also are crescent-shaped recesses within the border, especially towards the top, that are reminiscent of chip-carving [Kerbschnitt] and similar to [GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I].”
GP 132 Hablingbo Havor I

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Early type picture stone, i.e., Type A according to Lindqvist’s typology, dating to between AD 400 and 600. The monument must have been relatively small but too tall to be called ʻdwarf stoneʼ. Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 28) classifies the monument as representative of his Vallstenagruppe. This group is named after the stone GP 537 Vallstena Vallstenarum I and characterized by a large single roundel as the main motif. Hauck (1983a, pp. 544–545) subsumes “smaller” stones with single whirl motifs as main element under the term Havor-I-Typus (Typus IV).
GP 537 Vallstena Vallstenarum (I)

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 51–52, fig. 362; Rundkvist 2003 1, pp. 29, 117; 2, p. 70; Guber 2011, p. 120 cat. no. 22.

mer grejer

Find Context

The Stone

Carvings

Detailed Information

Svensk sammanfattning

Identification

Links

Export

More media

Plane	Position	Flip